This invention relates generally to a headrest and, more particularly, to a passenger seat headrest platform.
In contrast to passengers seated in a first class section of an airplane, train, bus, or other transport vehicles, passengers seated in economy class are more squeezed for space. This results in a more crowded and fatiguing trip for those passengers riding in economy class sections of airplanes, trains, buses, or other transport vehicles. Unlike first class, cramped economy class passengers do not have space to rest their heads in comfort or stretch to relax. Tired passengers in economy class often, sometimes unintentionally, rest their heads on the shoulder of adjacent passengers and fall asleep. A surprise awakening then occurs as the adjacent passenger nudges the sleeping passenger.
Given these cramped conditions, an economy class passenger can only bend forward to rest his or her head. Food trays, which drop from the back sections of forward seats, are deployed at lap level and are too low for resting one""s head. Furthermore, the hard surfaces of food trays makes it difficult to comfortably rest one""s head.
Cramped passengers need a means to sleep or rest in relative comfort while in a sitting position. Such a comfort level would be achieved similarly as when a person sits at a desk, leans forward, and rests his or her head and arms on the desk""s surface. Thus, there is an unmet need in the art to provide passengers a similar option that allows them to slightly lean forward, and then place their heads and arms onto a padded rest deployed in a position higher than is possible with drop down, lap-deployed food trays, and at a passenger-selected inclination angle and height.
Three embodiments of the invention permit passengers to slightly lean forward and place their heads and arms onto a padded headrest deployed in a position higher than is possible with a drop down, lap-deployed food trays. Two embodiments allow the passenger to use a deployed padded headrest without being affected by the seatback recline adjustments made by a passenger sitting in forward seat. In another embodiment the deployed padded headrest is susceptible to seatback recline interference caused by a passenger seated in forward seat who proceeds to make seatback recline adjustments.
An embodiment not susceptible to recline interference is the sleep bar. The sleep bar serves as a back-of-the-neck headrest and a forward face-headrest. When in a neutral or undeployed position, the sleep bar is in a stowed position, essentially collinear with and secured into the passengers seat. In the stowed position, the sleep bar serves as a cushioned back-of-the-neck headrest for the passenger.
The sleep bar is a passenger headrest that is platform deployable and stowable from a passenger seat. The platform operates as a rear headrest and is pivoted to a forward position to serve as a forward leaning face-headrest. The headrest includes a headrest platform that is attached to an adjustable post made of tubular construction and having a plurality of holes. The adjustable post is concentrically dimensioned to be slidably received by a tubular bar. The tubular bar has a set of holes and is pivotably attached to the passenger seat. A first connector secures the adjustable post and tubular bar to each other. The headrest is pivotable through a range of motion adjusted by a passenger, wherein the passenger selects an inclination angle. The inclination angle used by the passenger is established via a second connector that secures the tubular bar to the seat.
When the sleep bar is moved forward from its stowed undeployed position, it can be pivoted to a comfortable inclination angle and elevation adjusted to the preferred height as desired by the passenger. It is then secured by various locking connectors (to secure the adjusted height) or clamping connectors (to secure the adjusted inclination angle) by the passenger to establish the passenger""s preferred deployed position for the headrest platform. In the deployed position, the passenger slightly leans forward and rests his or her forehead or side of the head on the cushioned sleep bar headrest platform.
The cushioned sleep bar platform offers several advantages. It is integral to the passenger""s seat and its stowed and deployed position is controlled specifically by the passenger. The passenger has the option to convert the sleep bar""s back-of-the-neck headrest function to a forehead headrest function simply by deploying the sleep bar to a forward angle-adjusted and height-adjusted position. The cushioned sleep bar""s inclination angle position is not affected by nearby forward sitting passengers as it is deployed from the seat of a sitting passenger who makes the inclination angle and height adjustments.
Another embodiment of the invention not susceptible to seatback recline interference is a single-toggle padded food tray which is deployed from the seatback of a forward sitting passenger. The single-toggle padded food tray provides two functions. One function is to provide a hard food-serving surface deployed at lap-level, the other function is to provide a forward face-padded headrest deployed at a passenger selected height and inclination angle similar in function to the sleep bar. The single-toggle padded food tray, though deployed from the rear seatback of a forward sitting passenger seat, is not affected by seatback recline interference because it pivots from a stationary section of the forward sitting passenger seat.
An embodiment that is susceptible to seatback recline interference is a dual-toggle padded food tray that is also deployed from the moveable seatback of a forward passenger seat. As with the single-toggle invention, the dual-toggle invention also provides a lap-level food-serving surface and a forward leaning chest-to-head level padded surface for face resting. Because the dual-toggle embodiment deploys from the non-stationary forward seatback, it is susceptible to seatback recline interference. The height and inclination angle selected by the passenger will vary slightly with the seat recline adjustments made by the forward seated passenger. Nevertheless, the dual-toggle invention offers many of the same advantages as the single-toggle invention and the sleep bar invention that are not susceptible to seatback recline interference. In the deployed position the dual-toggle provides a cushioned head-resting surface that can be initially adjusted to a passenger-preferred angle of inclination and height, and also provides a lap-level hard food-serving surface.
As will be readily appreciated from the foregoing summary, all embodiments of the invention provide a forward head-resting surface that can be adjusted to a passenger preferred height and inclination angle. Embodiments of the invention are readily ascertained from the following drawings and detailed descriptions.